First, let me explain this photo. This is a picture of my Mom, Dad and oldest brother, Walter Lee (Skip). This was taken, most likely by my Dad, prior to the time that there were color photos. Dad most lilely took the photo, developed and printed it in his "dark room" at home (the bathroom). Then, my Mom hand oil painted the photo. My brother Skip is no longer living, having been killed in a heliocopter crash on May 1, 1981.

What I want to do with this post is talk about my Dad. He has a very interesting past. One that I am sure most people don't know.

Dad was born in Miles City, MT, Nov. 14, 1919. His was not the happiest of families. Although his Mother, older brother, two older sisters and a younger sister got along, his Father was a drunken tyrant. My Dad has many stories of his Dad beating him. One I remember is of his being beaten because he lied (of course not a good thing) to his Dad. Dad worked at a golf course as a caddy and made 10 cents a day. However, one day he got in an extra round and made an extra 10 cents. He spent it on ice cream. When he got home, his Dad asked for his money and Dad gave him the 10 cents. When his Dad found out about the extra 10 cents, he beat Dad. What did my Grandfather want the money for? Booze. He was a boozer. To give you and idea of how much my Grandfather was "loved" by his family, when he died, he died in a refrigerated railroad car. My Dad says he probably was drunk and didn't know what he was doing, or someone put him in there. Anyway, the Sheriff came out to Grandma's house to ask her to identify the body. Now this is a small town, so you know the Sheriff knew who it was. Grandma figured that much and told him she wasn't going to waste her time doing that but hoped it was him!

In 1932 at the ripe old age of 13, during the depression, he and two friends heard that work was available picking peaches in California. So, he and his two buddies hopped a frieght train and headed to California. When they got to California, the forman at the orchard they went to asked how old they were and they told him the truth. The guys said if they had said 18 he would have put them to work, but they were to young. So, back to the trains and back to Montana. One of the things I remember Dad saying about riding the rails was about being very hungry. I have heard him many times talk about going to a house and when the lady of the house answered he would say, "Maam, can you spare a glass of water, I'm so thirsty I haven't had a bite to eat in a week".

He did a lot of different kinds of work but ended up enlisting in the Navy, where he spent the next 20 years as a weather forecaster. He served on several ships, including the carrier, The Bon Hom Richards (or as they called it, the bonny dick). I could go on about a lot of his Navy stories, but it would take to much space.

During most of his Navy career, he was a self-proclaimed athiest. Some people say they are athiests just to avoid having to talk about religion, but Dad would do his best to convert you to his point of view. One day he got angry with my Mom for taking Skip to church, so he picked up the Bible and told her he was going to prove to her that the Bible was wrong. To make a long story short, he retired from the ministry a few years ago after about 30 years. I really can't imagine the number of people he has impacted for the kingdom of God during that time, but I suspect that he will be surprised by the number of people that will be in heaven as a result of his service.

Well, there are a lot of things I could talk about as far as my Father is concerned but I think the most appropiate thing I can finish with it the end of Jeremy's poem, "I Want To Sit In The Middle"


He looks surprised and sneaky
Smiling as always
As if daring death to come near him

"I dare you to come for me,
because when you are done with me,
I will be done with you

And the berries will keep falling
Into my bucket
Enough for a thousand pies

Then I will lean against the back of my truck
In my favorite robe
And wave goodbye"

I truely believe the first words Dad will hear when he passes away will be,
"Enter my good and faithful servant, for great is your reward"